Healthcare object recognition systems and methods

ABSTRACT

Healthcare object (HCO) discriminator systems and methods are presented. Systems can obtain a digital representation of a scene via a sensor interface. An HCO discriminator platform analyzes the digital representation to discriminate objects within the scene as being associated with a type of HCO or as being unrelated to a type of HCO. Once the HCO recognition platform determines that a type of HCO is relevant, it instantiates an actual HCO. The HCO can be routed to one or more destinations based on routing rules generated from a template or based on the manner in which the objects in the scene were discriminated.

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisionalapplication having Ser. No. 61/543,922 filed on Oct. 6, 2011. This andall other extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated byreference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in anincorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition ofthat term provided herein, the definition of that term provided hereinapplies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is medical information technologies.

BACKGROUND

Existing healthcare systems can collect healthcare data and incorporatethe data into medical records. However, known systems assume a priorithat data collected is in fact healthcare data and should beincorporated into such data records. Unfortunately, known healthcaresystems lack the ability to assimilate raw data and make a determinationif the raw data should be consider healthcare data. Rather, healthcaresystems merely rely on a priori human knowledge to determine that thedata will, in fact, be healthcare data.

Consider for example, U.S. patent application publication 2006/0293925to Flom titled “System for Storing Medical Records Access Using PatientBiometrics”, filed Jun. 20, 2006. Flom contemplates updating medicalrecords using patient biometrics. As biometric data is obtained,corresponding records are updated. Although useful when biometric datais known to be medically related, Flom fails to address conditions wheregeneric or ambient data might or might not be medically related. In theFlom case, the biometric data is a priori determined to be related tomedical records.

Another example includes U.S. patent application publication2007/0365533 to Tran titled “Cuffless Blood Pressure MonitoringApplication” filed May 12, 2006. Tran makes further progress bydetecting data associated with individuals and detecting if they fall,their facial expressions, or other conditions. As with Flom, Tranassumes the data is a priori related to healthcare. Tran requiresdata-specific algorithms to determine if a condition is present. Tranalso fails to offer insights into discriminating if generic or ambientdata is medically relevant or not.

Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth hereinshould be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints andopen-ended ranges should be interpreted to include only commerciallypractical values. Similarly, all lists of values should be considered asinclusive of intermediate values unless the context indicates thecontrary.

Thus, there is still a need for systems capable of recognizing thatobjects are in fact healthcare objects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems and methods inwhich objects are recognized as related to healthcare objects (HCOs).One aspect of the inventive subject matter includes an HCOdiscrimination system having a sensor interface and an HCO recognitionplatform. The sensor interface allows the system to acquire a digitalrepresentation of a real-world scene having at least one object (e.g., aperson, a collision, a document, a device, etc.). The object recognitionplatform obtains the digital representation through the sensor interfaceand determines if objects represented by the digital representationrelate to healthcare. The platform preferably comprises an HCOdiscriminator, which derives one or more discriminator characteristicsfrom the digital representation. The discriminator uses thecharacteristics to discriminate if one or more objects from the scenerepresented in the digital representation can be classified as beingassociated with one or more HCO types (i.e., a type or class of HCO) ornot associated with an HCO type. Example HCO types include data objects,a template for example, representing a patient, a healthcare provider, amedical device, a prescription or medication, an insurance claim, amedical record, or other types of healthcare related items. If an objectwithin the digital representation is associated with an HCO type, thenan HCO processor produces one or more actual HCOs according to the HCOtypes and other information available, including the discriminatorcharacteristics. When the HCO is fleshed out or provisioned withnecessary attributes, the recognition platform submits the HCO to an HCOrouter. The router routes the HCO to a destination based on routingrules and provisioned information in the HCO. For example, the routermight route the resulting HCOs to a pharmacy, an insurance company, adoctor's office, a medical record data store, a patient, a hospital, anemergency response team, or other entity.

Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventivesubject matter will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanyingdrawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a schematic of healthcare object recognition ecosystem.

FIG. 2 illustrates possible healthcare object templates that represent atype of healthcare object.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow of information to instantiate or to produce ahealthcare object.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of a method for constructing and routing ahealthcare object.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be noted that any language directed to a computer should beread to include any suitable combination of computing devices, includingservers, interfaces, systems, databases, agents, peers, engines,modules, controllers, or other types of computing devices operatingindividually or collectively. One should appreciate the computingdevices comprise a processor configured to execute software instructionsstored on a tangible, non-transitory computer readable storage medium(e.g., hard drive, solid state drive, RAM, flash, ROM, etc.). Thesoftware instructions preferably configure the computing device toprovide the roles, responsibilities, or other functionality as discussedbelow with respect to the disclosed apparatus. In especially preferredembodiments, the various servers, systems, databases, or interfacesexchange data using standardized protocols or algorithms, possibly basedon HTTP, HTTPS, AES, public-private key exchanges, web service APIs,known financial transaction protocols, or other electronic informationexchanging methods. Data exchanges preferably are conducted over apacket-switched network, the Internet, LAN, WAN, VPN, or other type ofpacket switched network.

One should appreciate that the disclosed techniques provide manyadvantageous technical effects including generating healthcare objectsand configuring a routing infrastructure to route the healthcare objectover network to a destination.

The following discussion provides many example embodiments of theinventive subject matter. Although each embodiment represents a singlecombination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter isconsidered to include all possible combinations of the disclosedelements. Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and asecond embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subjectmatter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A,B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.

As used herein, and unless the context dictates otherwise, the term“coupled to” is intended to include both direct coupling (in which twoelements that are coupled to each other contact each other) and indirectcoupling (in which at least one additional element is located betweenthe two elements). Therefore, the terms “coupled to” and “coupled with”are used synonymously. Further, within the context of this document, theterms “coupled to” and “coupled with” are used euphemistically to mean“communicatively coupled with” where to networked devices are able tocommunicate with each other over a network, possibly via one or moreintermediary devices.

FIG. 1 illustrates a healthcare object (HCO) recognition ecosystem 100.The example illustrated contemplates that sensor data is acquired fromone or more sensors 120, a cell phone for example, which transmitssensor data as digital representation 123 over network 115 (e.g.,network to a remote server operating as HCO discrimination platform 130.Platform 130 includes multiple components capable of analyzing digitalrepresentation 123, determining if a recognized object in a scene isassociated with an HCO type, constructs an HCO, and routes the object toother entities.

One should note that FIG. 1 represents one possible embodiment. Thevarious roles or responsibilities of each component discussed belowcould be disposed into different devices, local or remote to the scene.For example, a cell phone could operate as the sensor platformcomprising sensors 120, include sensor interface 150, and operate as HCOdiscriminator 133. In other embodiments, the various components can bedisposed within a cloud-based computing environment possibly as aPlatform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS),Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). It is also contemplated that the variousroles or responsibilities could be disposed within networkinginfrastructure including routers, switches, gateways, access points, orother infrastructure. Example networking infrastructure that could besuitability adapted for use with the inventive subject matter includesthe routing nodes disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,603,428 toWittenschlaeger titled “Software Application Striping”, filed on Dec.18, 2008, where the networking infrastructure operates as a generalpurpose distributed computing fabric.

One or more sensors 120 acquire data representative of a scene that hasone or more objects in scene 110. The acquired data is presented asdigital representation 123 and can include data according to one or moredata modalities. Thus, objects in scene 110 can be represented bydifferent modalities of data. Example modalities can include image data,video data, audio data, text data, raw sensor data, digitized analogdata, or other modalities. Further, digital representation 123 caninclude other types of data, possibly in the form of metadatarepresentative of other aspects of the environment, the user, or otherscene related information. Example additional data that can be includedin digital representation 123 can include location data (e.g., GPS,triangulation, etc.), position data, orientation data, heading data(e.g., directional movement, change in altitude, rotational movement,etc.), biometric data, temperature data, security data, encrypted data,or other types of ambient data that can be collected about the scene orenvironment. Sensors 120 can include a broad spectrum of data collectingdevices and can be as varied as the data modalities. Example datacollecting devices can include cameras, microphones, accelerometers,magnetometers, bio-sensors, compasses, gyroscopes, thermometers, HallEffect sensors, medical sensor (e.g., blood pressure, EKG, EEG,perfusion detector, glucose meters, etc.), a user interface, touchscreen, or other types of data acquisition devices.

Sensor 120 can include devices associated with an individual, a smartphone perhaps, or third party devices. For example, a person could be ina public location, possibly an airport, bus terminal, shopping mall, orother location when they experience a health crisis. The security systemcan observe the crisis through a security camera independent of othersensor platforms. Thus, the security system can construct digitalrepresentation 123 from its camera feeds.

Object in scene 110 are illustrated as real-world objects. One shouldappreciate that other types of objects can participate in ecosystem 100.For example, in some embodiments the objects in scene 110 can includevirtual objects that persist within ecosystem 100. Example virtualobjects can include messages on a virtual bulletin board bound to areal-world object, game objects (e.g., players, characters, goals,objectives, rewards, items, etc.), or other items that can exist in avirtual state. Consider a scenario where a game player is playing anaugmented reality game that mixes virtual objects in a real-worldsetting. During a strenuous game session the player might experiencedifficulty breathing due to exertion and might encounter a virtualconstruct that represents a phobia of the game player. The phobiacoupled with exertion might cause the game player to enter a criticalhealth state. In response, ecosystem 100 can send digital representation123, which includes information about the virtual construct, to platform130 for analysis and dissemination to appropriate destinations 160.

Digital representation 123 is transmitted or otherwise sent to HCOrecognition platform 130 over network 115. The nature of network 115 candepend on the nature of the sensor platform. For example, when a cellphone captures digital representation 123, network 115 could include acellular network or the Internet. In some embodiments, network 115 caninclude a dedicated medical network, the National Lamba Rail (see URLwww.nlr.net) for example. Other examples of network 115 include a LocalArea Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Personal Area Network(PAN), Virtual Private Network (VPN), a mesh network, a peer-to-peernetwork, or other types of networks. Network 115 can be based on varioussuitable protocols or infrastructure, possibly including one or more ofthe following protocols: cellular (e.g., GSM, CMDA, etc.), 802.11,WiGIG, Zigbee, Bluetooth, USB, Ethernet, ATM, or other suitableprotocols.

The communication between HCO recognition platform 130 and sensors 120can be bi-directional. As platform 130 analyzes digital representation123 to determine if it has data relevant to healthcare objects, platform130 can determine if additional data would be required. For example,platform 130 could request a cell phone user to capture additionalimages or video of scene 110 for further clarity, or to capturemedically-relevant information (e.g., heart rate, respiration rate,etc.). Consider a scenario where a user observes that a personcollapses. The user sends an image of the fallen person to platform 130.Platform 130 recognizes the person as having a heart condition. Inresponse, platform 130 causes the user's cell phone to render a userinterface that requests the user to take the fallen person's pulse. Theuser can enter the pulse information within the user interface andsubmit it back to platform 130. In some embodiments, the user interfaceis rendered in real-time under command from HCO recognition platform130, possibly through a browser or even a dedicated application.

HCO recognition platform 130 can include one or more of sensor interface150 through which the system can acquire digital representation 123 ofscene 110 and the associated objects. In the example shown, sensorinterface 150 comprises a web server capable of receiving packaged datapossibly in the form of HTTP messages (e.g., XML, WSDL, etc.). It shouldbe appreciated that sensor interface 150 could also include a directconnection to the sensors through a wired connection (e.g., CAN, SPI,GPIB, RS-232, Ethernet, Firewire, USB, serial lines, data lines, etc.)or a wireless connection (e.g., Zigbee, Bluetooth, WiMAX, UMTS, Wi-Fi,802.11, 802.15, 802.16, radio, IrDA, etc.).

HCO recognition platform 130 preferably comprises HCO discriminator 133communicatively coupled with the sensor interface 150. HCO discriminator133 obtains digital representation 123 via sensor interface 150 andbegins an analysis of digital representation 123. Digital representation123 can comprise raw data, encapsulated data, encrypted data, or data asa file. For example, digital representation 123 can be received by HCOdiscriminator 133 in the form of an XML file including metadatadescribing the environment of scene 110 (e.g., time stamps, locationdata, user ID, etc.) as well as encapsulated raw data (e.g., image data,audio data, etc.).

HCO discriminator 133 can take on different forms as is the case withother components in the system. In some embodiments, HCO discriminator133 comprises a cloud-based computing environment offering its servicesto other components of ecosystem 100. Further, HCO discriminator 133could comprise a mobile device (e.g., vehicle, cell phone, mobile kiosk,medical cart, etc.) or even a sensor platform hosting sensors 120. Inother embodiments, HCO discriminator 133 could include one or moreremote servers.

HCO discriminator 133 applies one or more analysis algorithms to digitalrepresentation 123 to derive one or more discriminator characteristics.The discriminator algorithms vary depending on the modality of datawithin digital representation 123. For example, when digitalrepresentation 123 include image data, the algorithm can include ScaleInvariant Feature Transform (SIFT; Lowe, David G. (1999). “Objectrecognition from local scale-invariant features”. Proceedings of theInternational Conference on Computer Vision. 2. pp. 1150-1157), GradientLocation and Orientation Histogram (GLOW; Krystian Mikolajczyk andCordelia Schmid “A performance evaluation of local descriptors”, IEEETransactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 10, 27, pp1615-1630, 2005), Binary Robust Invariant Scalable Keypoints (BRISK;Luetenegger et al. “BRISK: Binary Robust Invariant Scalable Keypoints”Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision(ICCV) 2011), Speeded Up Robust Feature (SURF; David Gossow, PeterDecker and Dietrich Paulus, “An Evaluation of Open Source SURFImplementations”, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2011, Volume6556/2011, 169-179) or other image processing techniques. If the digitalrepresentation include video image, the algorithms might comprisesSimultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM; Mountney, P.; Stoyanov, D.Davison, A. Yang, G-Z. (2006). “Simultaneous Stereoscope Localizationand Soft-Tissue Mapping for Minimal Invasive Surgery”. MICCAI 1:347-354) or vSLAM to track objects or identify objects within a scene.Audio data can be analyzed using according speech recognition algorithms(e.g., Hiddien Markov Models, Support Vector Machines, etc.), soundrecognition (e.g., see CoreLogger® by Audio Analytics), or other typesof audio recognition techniques. Additional algorithms can includeoptical character recognition; those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.7,016,532; OpenCV; Dynamic time warping; or others that are known or yetto be invented. Regardless of the modality, HCO discriminator 133compiles one or more discriminator characteristics from digitalrepresentation 123.

The digital characteristics from digital representation 123 reflectattributes of digital representation 123, scene 110, objects in scene110, or other aspects of the environment. In some embodiments,discriminator characteristics represent measurements or metrics storedin digital representation 123. In an example where digitalrepresentation 123 includes an image, the digital characteristics couldinclude light balance, color balance, color histograms, radial invariantfeatures, or other image data characteristics. Further, thediscriminator characteristics could also include attributes associatedwith objects possibly including color, interpreted symbols (e.g., barcodes, alphanumeric, etc.), facial recognition parameters, voicerecognition parameters, location parameters, sensor parameters, imageparameters, motion parameters, or other scene related parameters. Eachmodality of data could result in different derived discriminatorcharacteristics.

The discriminator characteristics can be represented according todifferent techniques. In some embodiments, a set of discriminatorcharacteristics associated with scene 110 can include a vector whereeach member of the vector corresponds to a specific dimension ormodality of data. For example, the first element of the vector couldrepresent a listing of relevant image features, while the second elementof the vector could represent a listing of relevant audio features, andyet a third element might represent OCRed text discovered within digitalrepresentation 123. The vector of discriminator characteristics can haveany number of practical dimensions. In other embodiments, the set ofdiscriminator characteristics can be represented as an N-tuple whereeach element of the N-tuple includes an attribute name along with one ormore corresponding values.

HCO discriminator 133 uses the discriminator characteristics todiscriminate if real-world objects in scene 110 are or are notassociated with a type of healthcare object as stored in object typedatabase 143. In some embodiments, discriminator 133 can recognize areal-world object in scene 110 and provision a temporary object withinformation related to the recognized real-world object. For example,discriminator 133 could recognize a face in scene 110 as a person. Inresponse, discriminator 133 creates a temporary object that isprovisioned with attributes, possibly from a known object database 145of known real-world objects or object information. The attributes, oreven discriminator characteristics, of the temporary object can becompared to known HCO types stored in object type database 132. If thetemporary object's attributes and attributes of known HCO types satisfymatching criteria, then the temporary object can be consideredassociated with the HCO type.

One should note that temporary objects are not required. Contemplatedsystems could also include an HCO type database 143 storing known HCOtypes, possibly in the form of templates. One should appreciate that the“type of object” is, itself, a distinct manageable data object. Forexample, object type database 143 can store many templates where eachtemplate represents an HCO type. Example HCO types can include apatient, a healthcare provider, a symptom, a drug, a medicine, aprescription, an X-ray, an image, a medical image, a victim, adiagnosis, a prognosis, a rendered service, a report, or other types ofclasses of HCOs.

The HCOs types can be indexed in HCO type database 143 according to oneor more discrimination characteristics. Each HCO type can have anassociated signature of discriminator characteristics consideredrelevant to the HCO type. In some embodiments, the signature can beconsidered a contextual relevance for circumstance under which the HCOtype should be considered relevant. The signature of discriminatorcharacteristics can be based on the different modalities of data:sounds, colors, temperatures, or other parameters derived from digitalrepresentation 123. When the derived discriminator characteristicssatisfies HCO type matching criteria with respect to discriminatorcharacteristics, then corresponding objects in scene 110 can beconsidered associated with an HCO type.

In some embodiments, the attributes, characteristics, parameters, orother types of discriminators are normalized or mapped to a commonnamespace to allow for easy comparisons. Thus, object type database 143can stored HCO types as indexed within the namespace. Once discriminator133 derives a set of discriminator characteristics associated withdigital representation 123, discriminator 133 can construct a query forobject type database 143 based on the set of discriminatorcharacteristics. In response to receiving the query, object typedatabase 143 can return a result set including HCO types that areconsidered to satisfy the query through comparing the HCO type'ssignature to the query requirements or optional conditions. The resultset can include one or more HCO types. Thus, object discriminator 133can discriminate among objects in the scene and obtain templates for anHCO.

Regardless of how objects in scene 110 are compared to HCO types, oneshould appreciate that the disclosed discriminators can track how ascene object was discriminated or recognized as being associated with anHCO type (e.g., by image, by sound, by movement, by location, bycombination of modalities, etc.). Further, discriminator 133 can alsoderive one or more confidence levels, or error measurements, indicatinga degree of the discrimination either as being associated with an HCOtype or as not being associated with an HCO type. The confidence levelscan be calculated based on number of matching criterion, weightings, orother factors; resulting in a measure of how well a scene object wasdiscriminated. The inventive subject matter is considered to includeusing the measure of discrimination to provision, build, route, interactwith, or otherwise manage an HCO upon instantiation. The measure ofdiscrimination could be multi-valued, possibly where each valuerepresents a different aspect of the discrimination. Contemplatedaspects an indication of certainty of a person's identity, an indicationof a type of circumstance (e.g., urgent, accident, life-threatening,etc.), or other indications.

If at least one of the objects in scene 110 has been discriminated fromothers as begin associated with an HCO type, HCO discriminator 133 canpass information derived about the object and HCO type to HCO processor135. HCO processor 135 converts the various parts of the informationinto one or more actual HCOs 140. In some embodiments, the HCO typeinformation could be accompanied by an HCO template to be populated bythe system. HCO processor 135 uses use the template to further provisionan actual HCO according to the template or rules associated with thecorresponding HCO type. Further, the HCO processor 135 can leverage thediscriminator characteristics to provision the actual HCO. Thus, HCOprocessor instantiates or otherwise produces the actual HCO 140. Onceinstantiated, HCO 140 becomes an persistent object in ecosystem 100. Insome embodiments, HCO 140 can be a permanent object, an electronicmedical record data entry for example. While in other embodiments, HCO140 can be transient in time or location, where HCO 140 can be deletedor deactivated once conditions are met. HCO 140 can be configured with atime limit or can be configured to be deactiviated upon consumption by arecipient.

Consider a scenario where a traffic camera observes an automobileaccident on a highway in winter, HCO processor 135 could produce anemergency response request as an HCO 140 and transmit HCO 140 to aparamedic team. HCO 140 can include a current temperature at the sitewith an indication of a likelihood of hypothermia, a time of theaccident, an estimated location of the accident, make or model of thecar, license plate number, possibly a recognized face, victim'sinformation, or other information. Still further, possibly based on thelicense plate number and assuming a face was not recognized, the HCOprocessor can determine a car owner and possibly family physicianinformation. HCO processor 135 can produce a second HCO 140 comprising anotification having information obtained from the scene to be sent to afamily physician. Thus, HCO processor 135 can instantiate multiple HCOs140 from digital representation 123.

HCOs 140 can be provisioned with a broad spectrum of information basedon the information available about scene 110, scene objects, HCO types,or other factors. Examples could include provisioning HCOs 140 basedvarious HCO types including a symptom, an image, a drug, a healthcareprovider, a patient, a rendered service, a report, an insurance claim, adrug trial report, a procedure or other HCO types. The actual HCO 140can carry very specific detailed information provisioned based on one ormore fields defined within the corresponding HCO type, possibly wherethe HCO type comprises a template. Further, HCO 140 can be provisionedwith one or more destination attributes, possibly including routingrules, indicating where or how HCO 140 should be routed. The destinationattributes can be derived from attributes from the HCO type or frominformation obtained from objects in known object database 145 (e.g., aperson, building, etc.). One should further appreciate that HCO 140 canalso be stored in object database 145 for future use or later retrieval.

Once an HCO 140 is produced, HCO 140 can be passed to HCO router 137.Router 137 consults one or more routing rules based on information fromHCO 140, or other sources, and routes HCO 140 to one or moredestinations 160, possibly over a network 115 (e.g., LAN, WAN, UWB,cell, National Lambda Rail (see URL www.nlr.net), Internet, etc.). Insome embodiments, HCO 140 can comprise the routing rules. Contemplateddestinations 160 can include emergency response entities, hospitals, adoctor's office or phone, pharmacies, insurance companies, familymembers, emergency medical record warehouses, remote specialists, astorage device, a patient's account, or other type of healthcareprovider device or facility. HCO 140 can also be encrypted to protectprivacy and decrypted upon reception assuming proper validation orauthentication of the recipient. Further, a level of encryption orsecurity applied can be determined by the discrimination measure of thecorresponding scene object. If only generic information was availableabout the corresponding object, the discriminator measure might have alow certainty that the scene object is associated with a specificidentity; therefore, minimal security would be required if any at all.

As discussed previously, HCOs 140 can represent a wide range of objecttypes. For example, HCO 140 can include an object representing aspectsof a person's or other entity's genome. HCO 140 can comprise arepresentation of a person's genome, a genomic sequence (e.g., DNA), RNAor RNA sequence, a kinome, or other genetic representations. In someembodiments, the digital representation of a person's genome can beobtained from a genomic analysis device capable of deriving genomic datafrom a blood sample. Example devices could employ Polymerase ChainReaction (PCR) to generate a DNA segment signal. It is contemplated anHCO 140 could include a visual representation of an entity's genomicinformation. Genomic HCOs can be routed to destination 160 comprising aremote analysis engine for development of personalized treatment, whichcould drive kinase inhibitor drug development.

Consider a scenario where sensors 120 include a genomic sequencingsystem that generates one or more DNA segment signals as represented bydigital representation 123. Suitable sequencing systems capable ofgenerating genomic segment signals can include those offered byPerkinElmer® (see URL www.perkinelmer.com), 454 Sequencing® (see URLwww.454.com), or even genome analysis systems soon to be offered byFive3 Genomics® (see URL www.five3genomics.com). HCO discriminatorplatform 130 observes the genomic signals and can determine thatportions of the represented genomic information can include one or moregenomic HCO types. The HCO types can be obtained from HCO type database143 by comparing the information in the genomic signals to the indexingattributes of the HCO types in HCO type database 143.

Contemplated genomic HCO types can represent different aspects ofgenomic information. Example genomic HCO types can include nativesequences, foreign sequences, altered sequences, or other types ofgenomic objects. A native sequence can be considered genomic informationthat is known to be from the source of the genetic sample (e.g., human,animal, blood, biopsy, etc.). For example, known object database 145 caninclude known genomic information of a baseline model. The baselinemodel could be based on the individual from whom the sample is obtained,possibly taken at an earlier different time; from a referencepopulation; or from a canonical or statistical reference. HCOdiscriminator platform 130 can determine that a sequence is native bycomparing the information in digital representation 123 to the genomicinformation in object database 145 thereby allowing platform 130 tocreate a native genomic HCO 140.

A foreign sequence can be detected via similar techniques to determininga native sequence. In the case of determining that a genomic sequence isforeign, HCO discriminator platform 130 determines that the genomicsignal is non-native by failing to find similar sequences associatedwith the sample provider, or by finding a corresponding sequence from adifferent source; a bacteria, a virus, a different person, a differentanimal, or other source. Such an approach is considered advantageousbecause it gives rise to the ability to determine if the sample providersuffers from an infection or other ailment even before the symptoms ofthe ailment appear. As a more concrete example, a blood sample can beanalyzed via sensors 120 and could be determined to contain anthraxgenetic material. In response, HCO 140 could comprise an anthraxinfection diagnosis, which can then be routed to a healthcare provideror even the CDC. The foreign sequence information can be used toinstantiate or produce HCO 140 representative of the foreign sequence.

An altered sequence can be considered a sequence that appears to bemodified in some form. The altered sequence could include arearrangement of genomic material, a mutation, insertions, deletions, orother types of alterations. For example, HCO discriminator platform 130could determine that the altered sequence could comprise the host's owngenetic sequence, but occurring in an unexpected locations. Suchrearrangements can include inter-chromosomal rearrangements orintra-chromosomal rearrangements. The altered sequences can comprise anindication of cancer.

Corresponding instantiated genomic HCOs 140 can include additional datarelating to the genomic information from digital representation 123,which can aid in routing HCO 140 to an appropriate destination. Example,information can include rearrangement information as discussed above,copy number, allele fraction number, variants, mutations, known geneinformation, or other genomic information. Known gene or mutationinformation could be obtained from genomic databases possibly includingthe UCSC known gene database or COSMIC mutation database from the SangerInstitute. Such information can directly influence routing rules for thecorresponding HCO 140. For example, the copy number can be used to routeHCO 140 to a proper analysis facilities or through a change of analysisnodes. Alternatively, the known gene or mutation information can be usedto ensure the corresponding HCO 140 is routed a proper facility, the CDCfor example as mentioned above.

FIG. 2 provides possible examples of HCO type 243A through 243N,collectively referred to as HCO types 243. In the example shown, HCOtype 243A represents a drug type of object, while HCO type 243Nrepresents a symptom type of object. HCO types 243 are presented astemplates.

The templates can be stored in a corresponding HCO type database, objecttype database 143 in FIG. 1 for example, where the templates are indexedby discriminator characteristics. In the example shown, HCO type 243 isindexed by several salient features including size, dimensions, color,OCRed text, location (e.g., GPS, address, etc.), among othercharacteristics. The symptom template can be retrieved according toother discriminator characteristics that are more relevant to symptoms.HCO type 243N is indexed by face features, face color, temperature, orother factors that might be considered relevant to a symptom. Each HCOtype 243 can be indexed according other features as necessary.

One should appreciate that although only two templates are presented,the ecosystem can support any number of HCO type 243. Further, HCO types243 can be linked to each other to form more complex HCO types 243. Forexample, a base template might represent a face where HCO type 234Npoints to or incorporates the face HCO type. Such an approach isconsidered advantageous because it allows for users to create complexHCO types without requiring the user to define new types from scratch.

HCO types 243 can be classified according to one or more classificationschemes as defined with respect to the derived discriminatorcharacteristic. Each class can have a defined name that determines theclass and have class criteria used to determine if the HCO types 243 arerelevant to circumstances associated with the scene. The class criteriacan be defined in terms of a namespace associated with the discriminatorcharacteristics. For example, HCO types 243 could belong to a class“vehicle accident” where the class criteria for “vehicle accidents”require location coordinates be associated with known highway locations.Thus, when the digital representation includes a highway location, theHCO recognition platform can search the HCO type database for HCO types243 that are indexed by the classification or indexed by thediscriminator characteristics; highway locations in this case.

HCO types 243 can also include attributes or other properties thatdescribe the nature of the corresponding type of object. Some attributescan be pre-populated with type-specific information. In the exampleshown, HCO types 243 include permanent attributes including a templatetype name, and a template ID (e.g., a GUID, UUID, etc.). HCO types 243could include any number of permanent attributes. The attributes canfurther include non-populated attributes that are to be populated uponinstantiation of a corresponding HCO. The nature of the attributes canbe quite varied. The attributes can also be constructed according to oneor more standards to aid in integrated with other types of HCOs. Forexample, the attributes can conform to medical standards for electronicmedical records (e.g., HL7, ANSI X12, CEN, DICOM, ASTM CCR, etc.).

An especially interesting type of attributes includes routing rules asillustrated. Each HCO type 243 can also include one or more routingrules that govern how the resulting instantiated HCO should be routed toone or more destinations. The routing rules, similar to attributes perse, can include permanent values or values to be populated uponinstantiation. For example, a source address might always reference theHCO recognition platform's address. However, it is contemplated that thesource address could also be populated during instantiation to alignwith a patient's address, a municipality address, a cell phone number oraddress, or other source identifier. Destination addresses can besimilarly populated. Although each template is illustrated as having asingle source and a single destination, one should appreciate that HCOscould include multiple sources or multiple destinations.

Source and destination addresses can be populated according to themodality under which the corresponding HCO is to be routed. For Internetcommunications, the addresses can comprise IP addresses, ULRs, URIs,email addresses, web services APIs, or other types of Internet protocoladdresses. Other types of addresses correspond to the nature of thecommunication and can include phone numbers, database commands,traditional mail addresses, electronic medical record interfaceaddresses, fax numbers, document object identifiers (DOIs), or othertypes of addresses. Examples techniques relating to DOIs that can beadapted for use with the inventive subject matter include thosedescribed in co-owned International application having serial numberPCT/US12/30060 titled “Healthcare Management Objects” filed on Mar. 22,2012.

FIG. 3 illustrates populated HCO 345 produced or instantiated based onthe symptom template and illustrates information flow to produce HCO345. In the example shown, the recognition platform derives or otherwiseacquires discriminator characteristics 323 from analysis of the digitalrepresentation of the scene. The information from discriminatorcharacteristic 323 is available for populating HCO type 343.

HCO 345 can be instantiated by the platform based one or moreinformation sources. In the example shown, the attributes of HCO 345 canbe populated from information directly obtain from discriminatorcharacteristics 323. For example, the attributes can include valuesrelating to image data, possibly based on color values in the image,color distributions, or other image features. Further, the attributescan include values obtained from audio or even OCRed text. Perhaps, inthis example, Mary Jones has been in an accident and a first responderimages her driver's license. In response, the platform OCRs the text ofthe driver's license and populates corresponding attributes from HCOtype 343 to create HCO 345.

An additional information source can include metadata 325 that might beassociated with discriminator characteristics 323. The metadata can bepart of a digital representation of the scene or obtained through othersources. Metadata 325 is considered to include information about thecircumstances, entities involved with the circumstances, or otherinformation that falls outside the boundaries of the analysis algorithmsassigned to deriving discriminator characteristics 323. Examples ofmetadata 325 could include location data, user identity information(e.g., phone number, social security number, name, etc.), name ofwitnesses, security keys or tokens, medical history, or otherinformation. Although metadata 325 is illustrated as composingdiscriminator characteristics 323, one should appreciate that metadata325 can be obtained through external sources, possibly through a queryto a public or private search engine. A public search engine couldinclude social networks (e.g., Facebook®, LinkedIn®, etc.) while aprivate search engine could include an electronic medical record system(e.g., healthcare provider's database, an insurance provider database, agenome database, etc.). Regardless of where metadata 325 originates, theinformation it supplies to the platform enables the platform to populatethe HCO type 343 to create HCO 345.

Yet another somewhat indirect source of information includes recognizedobject 370. As the platform derives discriminator characteristics 323,it can use them to identify one or more recognized objects 370. Oncerecognized, the recognition platform can obtain object information 375or other types of content information related to recognized object 370.For example, the recognition platform can use facial recognitionfeatures or other biometric information to identify a person asrecognized object 370. Once the person is recognized, the platform canobtain information, object information 375, related to the person topopulate HCO 345. Example techniques that can be adapted to obtainobject information 375 or other content information includes thosedisclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,016,532; 7,403,652; 7,477,780; 7,680,324;7,565,008; 7,899,243; 7,881,529; 7,899,252; 8,224,077; 8,224,078 and8,218,873.

Yet another example information source can include a Mechanical Turk(MTurk) system (not shown). As a digital representation is feed into therecognition platform, portions or all of the digital representation canbe sent to the MTurk system for review. The MTurk system can constructone or more tasks for human beings to review the digital representationto obtain additional information. For example, in scenarios where therecognition platform might have difficulty understanding a context of ascene, perhaps a scene of an accident, the MTurk system can request areview of a scene image and request the humans behind the MTurk toidentify the scene as being an accident scene or not an accident scene.The information resulting from the MTurk can then be folded into HCO 345by populating fields of HCO type 343. An example MTurk system that couldbe employed for use with the inventive subject matter can include theAmazon® Mechanical Turk (see URL www.mturk.com)

In view that an MTurk system might not necessarily generate accurateresults, the HCO ecosystem can employ one or more techniques to mitigatethe risk of poor results. One technique includes submitting multipleMTurk tasks to review the same digital representation. In response, theHCO recognition platform can evaluate the statistics resulting from theMTurk evaluation of the digital representation. Consider the exampleshown with respect to HCO 345. Perhaps the digital representationincludes an image of a patient, possibly the patient's face. The HCOrecognition platform can submit the image to the MTurk system andrequest one or more evaluations of the image data where the MTurkcreates one hundred tasks per evaluation. One evaluation might include adetermination if the image indicates the scene is or is not an accident.The recognition platform might receive 95 “No” results and 5 “Yes”results indicating the image is more than likely not an accident. Theaccident example yields a binary result (i.e., yes or no), but mightalso include a confidence level derived from the statistics of theresults. The results from the survey can also fall on a spectrum.Another evaluation might request a determination of pain on a person'sface on a scale of one to ten. In such cases, the results would likelyinclude a distribution of values from one to ten. In the example, shownthe pain has been evaluated with a value of “2”, but could also includeadditional information from the MTurk results such as a width of thedistribution around the value of “2”.

Regardless of the source of information for populating HCO type 343, theplatform instantiates or otherwise produces HCO 345 from the informationavailable. One should appreciate that not all attributes of HCO 345require values. In some embodiments, HCO type 343 can indicate whichattributes are considered conditional information rather than requiredinformation. Consider scenarios where privacy might be of concern. Aperson's name might be withheld for privacy concerns, perhaps in anemergency situation. Still, in other situations a person's name might beabsolutely required, possibly when treating a symptom and historicalmedical history is required.

HCO 345 represents a symptom and includes two main sets of properties.The first set labeled “Attributes” is presented as examples ofinformation that describe the nature or features of HCO 345. The secondset of properties is labeled “Routing Rules” to indicate that thecorresponding attribute information relates to the routing nature of HCO345. The attributes can include a broad spectrum of information that canbe used to manage HCO 345 or provide information to a recipient of HCO345. Management information can include an HCO type indicator, atemplate ID, a HCO ID represented as a GUID, an object name, an objecttype, a classification, indices for later retrieval, or other types ofinformation. Content that can be considered informational for arecipient can include the object name (e.g., symptom), a severity,point, body locations, patient information, CPT codes, ICD codes, HCPCScods, or other informational items.

The routing rules are specifically shown to indicate that HCO 345 canincorporate specific information governing how HCO 245 should bedisseminated through the ecosystem. As discussed earlier, the routingrules can include source or destination address information. In thisspecific example, the source and destination addresses include emailaddresses. One should note that HCO 345 includes multiple destinations.Additional routing information can include priority indicators, urgencyindictors, modalities, or even message information for the recipient orrouting infrastructure. In view that the symptom associated with HCO 345is a fever with a mild severity, the priority has been defined as lowwith no urgency. Also note that the modality of the HCO can also includean EMR standard format.

The routing rules can further include specific routing informationbeyond a destination address. Additional routing rules can include achain of recipients, quality of service requirements, required time ofdelivery, computation requirements along a route if any; security tokensor keys, certificates, or other types of routing information that canaffect delivery of HCO 345 to a recipient.

One should appreciate that routing rules can be constructed based on howHCO 345 was discriminated from others in the scene. For example, thepriority, urgency, or even destination can be dictated according therules within HCO type 343 applied to how discriminator characteristics323 where derived or evaluated. Application of such rules is consideredan advantageous approach over simply recognizing objects per se. Oneadvantage is that the modality of the data available can govern whichrouting rules should be applied ensure HCO 345 is appropriately routedto destination.

Once instantiated HCO 345 can be packaged for delivery. HCO 345 ispresented as a listing of information. One should appreciate that HCO345 can be packaged according to various techniques, again possiblydepending on the modality of the delivery mechanism. For example, HCO345 can be packaged as an XML file having tags representing theattributes or routing rules. In other embodiments, HCO 345 could includea binary format ready for placement into an EMR database. Along similarlines, HCO 345 can be encapsulated within a database command for entryinto a database (e.g., an SQL command). Once packaged, HCO 345 can berouted to the corresponding destinations.

FIG. 4 illustrates method 400 of routing HCOs. Step 410 includesproviding access to an HCO recognition platform. In some embodiments theHCO recognition platform operates as an ambient public or privateservice, possibly based on a search engine. For example, the Google®search engine could be suitably adapted to operate as the HCOrecognition platform. In such a scenario, digital representations of ascene or objects can be submitted easily to the platform withoutrequiring a dedicated application on a computer or smart phone. In otherembodiments, the platform can operate as a for-fee service that userspay for possibly based on a subscription basis, per use charge, or otherform of charge. In other embodiments, the HCO recognition platform couldalso include a dedicated application available to one or more computingdevices. In such cases, the HCO recognition can include an app installedon a user's smart phone, tablet, computer, workstation, server, kiosk,virtual servers (e.g., cloud, etc.) appliance, set top box, gameconsole, or other computing device. Still further the roles orresponsibility of the HCO recognition platform can be distributed acrossmultiple devices, even including networking infrastructure (e.g.,switches, routers, gateways, etc.).

Providing access to the HCO recognition platform can include integratingthe features of the platform's services within existing infrastructure.For example, the platform's services can be integrated within 911 orE911 services to ensure HCOs can be constructed and routed toappropriate recipients without latency of requiring a human to conductdata entry tasks. Additional examples could include integration withvideo communications, telepresence infrastructure, or augmented realityinfrastructure. As users increasingly use Skype®, Facetime®, or evenLayar® AR-based interfaces, it is expected that such information can beused to construct appropriate HCOs, subject to appropriateauthentication or authorization. Consider a scenario where a communityleverages Skype for communication. An HCO integrated with Skype cancreate HCOs representative of psychological profiles of the userswithout attaching private information to the profiles. The psychologicalprofiles can be routed to researchers or appropriate psychologists forreview.

Step 420 includes receiving a digital representation of a scene. Thedigital representation can be acquired through various techniques. Insome embodiments, the digital representation is pushed from one or moresensor platforms, a cell phone or security camera for example. In suchcases, a person can acquire audio data, image data, video data, or othertypes of data modalities with their cell phones. The scene data can thenbe sent to the HCO recognition platform regardless if the platform islocal to the cell phone or distal to the cell phone. In otherembodiments, the digital representation can be pulled from the sensorplatforms. For example, the HCO recognition platform can request orcontrol the sensor platform to acquire the digital representation.Consider a scenario where a person captures a still image of an accidentscene. The still image can be pushed to the HCO recognition platform. Inresponse, the HCO recognition platform can command the person's cellphone to capture audio or video of the scene in an attempt to gatheradditional data. Still, further the digital representation can beacquired through ambient collection of available sensor feeds relevantto the scene once suitable authentication or authorization has beenacquire.

Step 430 can include deriving one or more discriminator characteristicfrom the digital representation. The discriminator characteristics canbe derived through one or more algorithms as discusses previously andcan comprise one or more algorithmic results (e.g., audio signatures,SIFT features, BRISK features, vSLAM coordinates, etc). Thediscriminator characteristics can cover a broad spectrum of informationrelating to the digital representation itself. For example, thediscriminator characteristics can represent data constructsrepresentative of the data from the digital representation itself, aSIFT feature for example. Further, the discriminator characteristics canalso include data that more closely relates to the scene, facialrecognition parameters, OCRed text, voice recognition parameters, sensorparameters (e.g., sensor data, position, orientation, measures, metric,etc.), or other types of parameters. Yet further, the discriminatorcharacteristics can include metadata describing the nature of the scene.Example metadata can include user identities, GPS location, time stamps,security tokens, or the aspects related to the scene.

Step 440 can include discriminating scene objects by recognizing anobject in the scene as an HCO type. The HCO recognition platformutilizes the discriminator characteristics to identify one or more HCOtypes. As discussed above, the platform can construct to query targetingan HCO type database storing one or more templates for HCOs. The querycan be based on a namespace defined in terms of discriminatorcharacteristic where the HCO types are stored according to an indexscheme in the same namespace. For example, the HCO types could include asymptom template that is based on facial recognition features. When thediscriminator characteristics include facial recognition parameters,among others, the HCO platform can submit a query to the HCO typedatabase where the query requests HCO types related to faces. Inresponse, the HCO type database could return face-based symptomtemplates.

One should appreciate that the HCO recognition platform can, in additionto tracking the discriminator characteristics used to discriminate sceneobjects as HCO types or non-HCOs, track the path taken to arrive at thea determination that a HCO type relates to the scene. Such an approachcan be considered representative of how objects in the scene arediscriminated, or the manner in which the scene objects arediscriminated. Providing an understanding of how objects in the sceneare discriminated provides additional foundations by which instantiatedHCOs are to be routed as discussed below. The path can be represented bya path object that includes indicators of data modalities, algorithmsapplied, confidence levels, or other factors outlining the process bywhich objects were discriminated.

As an example, considered a scenario where a digital representation of ascene includes video data. Objects within the scene can be discriminatedthrough several modalities: image data (e.g., SIFT, BRISK, etc.), motiondata (e.g., vSLAM techniques), or even audio data (e.g., voicerecognition). The recognition platform can determine that some objectsin the scene should be considered HCO types. Further, the recognitionplatform can classify the objects according to the manner in which theyare discriminator based on modality type (i.e., image, audio, motion) oreven the confidence of the determination. Thus, each HCO type that isreturned to the recognition platform can comprise path object data,possibly as metadata tags, that indicates how the objects in the scenewere discriminated.

One should further appreciate that objects in the scene can berecognized as non-HCOs as suggested by step 445. Non-HCOs in the scenemight provide useful information (e.g., street signs for locationinformation, etc.), but might not map to an HCO type. Therefore, theinventive subject matter is considered to include discrimination ofscene objects as being related to a type of HCO or as being unrelated toa type of HCO.

Step 450 includes the HCO recognition platform producing orinstantiating an HCO based on the HCO type associated with the sceneobjects and other information. In embodiments where an HCO type includesa template, the HCO recognition platform can obtain information from thediscriminator characteristics, the scene itself, or through objectrecognition to populate required or optional fields in the template.Once populated, the platform can be considered to have a fullyinstantiated HCO.

One aspect of producing the HCO includes constructing one or morerouting rules for the HCO. The routing rules can be generated accordingto policies within the template. The policy can itself include fields tobe populated, source or destination addresses for example that candepended on routing modalities. Further, the routing policies associatedwith the HCO type can include criteria for establishing the routingrules based on how corresponding objects were discriminated. Forexample, the routing policies can dictate a destination chain for theHCO. When a confidence level is low with respect to an image modality,the routing rules can be constructed to ensure the HCO is routed to asubject matter expert first before forwarding to a final destination.The routing polices can be used to generate routing rules for the HCObased on the data modalities used for discrimination, the number ofmodalities, confidence levels, a time or location where discriminatoroccurs, algorithms used, identification of entities involved with thediscrimination, or other factors.

Step 460 includes routing the HCO according to the routing rulesconfigured to operate based on the HCO and other information available(e.g., discriminator characteristics, metadata, etc.). The HCO can bepackaged according to a format most amenable to the routing modality. Insome embodiments, the HCO packaged as an EMR possibly based on XML whilein other embodiments the HCO might be packaged as an email or a file.Regardless of the packaging, the HCO can be routed by submitting the HCOto an HCO router that can determine one or more destinations for theHCO. As indicated by step 465, the HCO router can determine thedestination from information available the HCO recognition platform andpossibly based on a destination type. For example, when an HCO comprisesan accident report, the HCO might comprise destination types of primaryhealthcare physician, closest family member, and police. In response,the HCO can be instantiated with the fax number of the physician, emailaddress of the family member, and a call to 911. The specificity of theinformation can be obtained through recognizing people in the scene,receiving contact information from a victim's cell phone, or publicrecords.

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many moremodifications besides those already described are possible withoutdeparting from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subjectmatter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the scope of theappended claims. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification andthe claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possiblemanner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises”and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements,components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that thereferenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized,or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are notexpressly referenced. Where the specification claims refers to at leastone of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C . . . andN, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from thegroup, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.

What is claimed is:
 1. A healthcare object discrimination systemcomprising: a sensor interface capable of acquiring a digitalrepresentation of at least one object captured by a sensor; and ahealthcare object recognition platform coupled with the sensorinterface, the platform including: a healthcare object discriminatorthat recognizes, using a data modality, the at least one object as atype of healthcare object based on discriminator characteristics derivedfrom the digital representation, and generates path object data; ahealthcare object processor that produces at least one healthcare objectaccording to an analysis of the type of health care object anddiscriminator characteristics; and a healthcare object router thatroutes the at least one healthcare object to a destination according torouting rules configured to operate based on routing policies associatedwith the healthcare object, on a type of the data modality in which theat least one object was recognized, and on the path object data, thepath object data indicating the process by which the at least onehealthcare object was discriminated by the healthcare objectdiscriminator.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the healthcare objectprocessor comprises a cloud-based computing environment.
 3. The systemof claim 1, wherein the healthcare object discriminator comprises amobile device.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the healthcare objectdiscriminator comprises a service distal relative to the sensorinterface.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the health care objectdiscriminator comprises a remote server.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the healthcare object discriminator is further configured torecognize other objects represented in the digital representation as notbeing a type of healthcare object.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein thetype of healthcare object fall within a classification scheme havingclasses defined with respect to discrimination characteristics.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein in the discriminator characteristicsrepresent an index into a database of different healthcare objectstypes.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein the discriminatorcharacteristics represent a namespace associated with differenthealthcare objects types.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the type ofhealthcare object includes at least one of the following types: asymptom, a gene, a mutation, an image, a drug, a healthcare provider, apatient, a rendered service, and a report.
 11. The system of claim 1,wherein the digital representation comprises at least one of thefollowing types of data: image data, video data, auditory data, textdata, genomic data, and raw sensor data.
 12. The system of claim 1,wherein the routing rules cause the healthcare object router to routethe at least one healthcare object to at least one of the following: apharmacy, a healthcare provider facility, an electronic medical recordfacility, an insurance facility, a storage device, and a patient'spersonal account.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the healthcareobject comprises the routing rules.
 14. The system of claim 1, whereinthe type of healthcare object includes instructions for routing to atype of destination.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the healthcareobject router determines the destination from the type of destinationand destination attributes of the healthcare object.
 16. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the discriminator characteristics comprise at least oneof the following: facial recognition parameters, optical characterrecognition parameters, voice recognition parameters, locationparameters, sensor parameters, genomic parameters, and image parameters.17. The system of claim 1, wherein the digital representation comprisesa representation of a scene that includes the at least one object. 18.The system of claim 1, wherein the digital representation comprises agenetic sequence signal.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein thehealthcare object comprises a genomic healthcare object.
 20. The systemof claim 19, wherein the genomic healthcare object comprises anindication of a foreign genomic sequence.
 21. The system of claim 19,wherein the genomic healthcare object comprises an indication of agenomic rearrangement.
 22. A healthcare object discrimination systemcomprising: a sensor interface capable of acquiring a digitalrepresentation of at least one object captured by a sensor; and ahealthcare object recognition platform coupled with the sensorinterface, the platform including: a healthcare object discriminatorthat recognizes, using a data modality, the at least one object as atype of healthcare object based on discriminator characteristics derivedfrom the digital representation, and generates path object data; ahealthcare object processor that produces at least one healthcare objectaccording to an analysis of the type of health care object anddiscriminator characteristics; and a healthcare object router thatroutes the at least one healthcare object to a destination according torouting rules configured to operate based on routing policies associatedwith the healthcare object, on a type of the data modality in which theat least one object was recognized, and on the path object data, thepath object data indicating the process by which the at least onehealthcare object was discriminated by the healthcare objectdiscriminator including algorithms applied to generate the path objectdata.
 23. A healthcare object discrimination system comprising: a sensorinterface capable of acquiring a digital representation of at least oneobject captured by a sensor; and a healthcare object recognitionplatform coupled with the sensor interface, the platform including: ahealthcare object discriminator that recognizes, using a data modality,the at least one object as a type of healthcare object based ondiscriminator characteristics derived from the digital representation,and generates path object data; a healthcare object processor thatproduces at least one healthcare object according to an analysis of thetype of health care object and discriminator characteristics; and ahealthcare object router that routes the at least one healthcare objectto a destination according to routing rules configured to operate basedon routing policies associated with the healthcare object, on a type ofthe data modality in which the at least one object was recognized, andon the path object data, the path object data indicating the process bywhich the at least one healthcare object was discriminated by thehealthcare object discriminator including a time at which or locationwhere the discrimination occurred.